Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez — Powered by Projects and the Project-Driven Organization

"If you launch more projects than you finish, you're a bad leader. Your role is not about launching projects — it's about finishing them."

Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez, creator of the project economy concept and author of Powered by Projects, joins Aidan McCullen to explain why agile — a 20-year-old idea — is no longer enough, and why the next evolution is the project-driven organization (PDO): a company rearchitected around dynamic, empowered, cross-functional project teams.

In this conversation, Antonio reveals:

• Why EY's Project Everest collapsed despite a perfect plan — and what it says about ego at the top
• The structural blind spot that undermined Nike's digital transformation
• The robot hairdresser that shocked a luxury company's C-suite — and why "safe" jobs aren't
• Why COVID briefly turned every surviving company into a project-driven organization
• How Bill Anderson is dismantling hierarchy and approval steps at Bayer
• The insurance company that ring-fenced €50 million for crazy ideas — and why employees only asked for €2 million
• The bank that had Revolut's idea first, then killed it in the budgeting cycle
• Why "are you crazy?" is the best compliment an idea can receive
• The Toyota-style kill switch every transformation needs — and why 90% done is done
• How Alan Mulally's all-green KPIs at Ford exposed a culture that couldn't ask for help

Chapters:

00:00 Lead Through Transformation 01:13 Sponsor Message Kyndryl 01:40 Why Projects Really Fail 02:03 Meet Antonio And Project Economy 07:04 Projects As Your Future 08:33 Case Study EY Project Everest 10:29 Case Study Nike Structure Fails 13:09 Rethinking Org Structure For AI 15:02 AI And Robots Disrupt Work 17:29 From Agile To Project Driven 21:57 Change Fatigue Too Many Projects 26:02 Co Creation And Leadership Focus 27:37 Great Resignation And PDO Shift 29:09 Burnout After Covid 30:12 Bayer And Haier Blueprint 34:09 Empower Teams To Stop 36:09 From Projects To PDO 39:19 Finish Early Kill Fast 42:42 Exponential Crazy Bets 50:40 Transparency And Town Halls 56:09 Final Advice And Wrap

Find Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez at https://antonionietorodriguez.com and on LinkedIn.

This series is brought to you by Kyndryl, who run and reimagine the technology systems that drive advantage for the world's leading businesses. With a unique blend of AI-powered consulting built on unmatched managed-service capability, Kyndryl helps leaders harness technology for smarter decisions, faster innovation, and lasting competitive edge. Learn more about Kyndryl and the Kyndryl Institute at https://www.kyndryl.com.

Subscribe to the Thursday Thought on Substack for a chance to win a copy of Powered by Projects, with thanks to Kyndryl: https://thethursdaythought.substack.com

About The Innovation Show: the Thinkers50-recognised podcast where square pegs find their place in a world of round holes. Hosted by Aidan McCullen, author of Undisruptable, it brings you conversations with world-class authors, scientists and practitioners on disruption, innovation, change, transformation and leadership.

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